Metal seal



(No Model.)

E. WGAYLORD.v

position at one end of the strip.

Unirse @rares Paritair Ormea -ELBER'I `W. GAYLORD, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

METAL. SEAL..

SPECIFICATION fol'mng'part of Letters Patent No. 371,884, dated October 18, 1887.

(No model.)

.To all whom, it may conceive:

Be it known that I, ELnnnr W. GAYLonD, of Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metal. Seals; and I do hereby declare the following to bea full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in metal seals for sealing cars and varioususes, in which a locking-strip of thin metal having a hole in either end is bent double and secured by a rivet yof soit material-such, for instance, as lead. An eyelet of harder material is mounted on the shank of the rivet in position to pass through the holes of the locking-strip and to be expanded by the upsetting of the rivet, to the end that such seal cannot be broken and the parts reassembled without leaving indications ofthe seal having been tampered with.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures l and 2 are elevations in section, the one showing the eyelet detached and the other showing the eyelet in position on the rivet. Fig. 3 is a plan of the locking-strip with the rivet in Figs. et and 5 are elevations in section showing the parts assembled and showing the rivet and eyelet before and after upsetting.

A represents the locking-strip, the same be ing usually made of tin or other thin plate metahwith rivet-holes at either end thereof.

The locking-strip is inserted in the hasp and staple and bent back double, and the ends secured by rivets. Lead rivets have more commonly been employed for this purpose, such rivet having a large flat head on'which to stamp the number of station sending and perhaps the initial letters of the name of the shipping line or road, or whatever may be desired to stamp thereon, such letters or chairacters being pressed on simultaneously with the upsetting ofthe rivets.

There was this defect in the lead rivets, to wit: Vith adroit manipulation, with the aid of suitable tools, the upset ends of the rivet could ,be compressed, so that the rivet could be removed and again placed in position and upset, leaving little or no indication that the seal had been tampered with. Eyelets have been 'employed for this purpose in place of the ri vets, and, although these eyelets could not well be removed and reriveted,the eyelet could `not well be stamped, as desired, and Without such stamping the seal was of little value, as in case the eyelets were removed other eyelets could be used to replace the broken ones.

In carrying out my invention I employa lead rivet, B, or, if notof lead, of other suitable soft material that may be easily stamped and upset, such rivet having a broad flat head suitable for stamping thereon the desired letters, figures, or characters. Upon the shank of the rivet is placed an eyelet, C, the latter being firmly pressed on, so as to keep its place in shipping and handling the goods. The rivet has a conical depression, b, in the end of its shank that serves to center the upsettingtool.

In Fig. 4 the combined rivet and eyelet is shown in position in the two ends of the locking-strip. By means of a hand-tool substantially the same as heretofore employed for this purpose the rivet-head is stamped, and at the saine operation the shank of the rivetis upset approximately in the form shown in Fig. 5, the eyelet being expanded by upsetting the leaden shank and the outer end of the eyelet being crimped inward and made partially to cover the end of the rivet, thus preventing the leaden shank from being compressed or reduced in size.

It is evident that the eyelet, after having been swelled out in the center and crimped over in the manner shown, could not be successfully removed and replaced.

What I claim is- As a new article of manufacture, a metal seal consisting of a soft-metal rivet having a head and shank and a cylindrical eyelet, the latter being as long or approximately as long as the shank and adapted to fit and be eX panded or upset with said shank, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I sign this specifica` tion, in the presence of two witnesses,this 31st day of May, 1887.

stessa w. cartone,

` W'itnesses:

C tms. II. Donne, ALBERT E. LYNCH. 

